King Arthur on…ice?

Music as theater has a long history, but few modern artists have embraced it as fully as the iconic Rick Wakeman. From a community center big band, playing with David Bowie in his early 20s, forming the most well-known prog rock band of all time, Yes, playing in a pub band, to performing his tribute to King Arthur on ice, then back to Yes, all before the age of 30, Rick Wakeman was practically born a legend…wait, King Arthur on ice?

Image courtesy of Aureliomoraes30 at https://commons.wikimedia.org

The endlessly creative mind of Rick Wakeman conjured up a performance on ice, with a full orchestra, of his solo album The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table for a live performance on June 1, 1975 at London’s Wembley Arena. And that’s just one of the crazier things he’s done.

Wakeman is a man who we here at Heroes and Mortals love, a legend in the prog rock scene and a hero of theatrical rock whose creative impulses are given free reign (plus he wears a cape, someday that will be cool again!).

Read more about the fascinating Rick Wakeman in this just published article at Vanity Fair, The Stranger-Than-Fiction Secret History of Prog-Rock Icon Rick Wakeman and an article from a few years ago at Louder magazine, Rick Wakeman: “The on ice thing was an accident, but never a problem”.

For your listening pleasure, here are (some of) the individual performances from King Arthur on ice.